Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

‘Sal’s prediction: Buffalo Bills 30, Miami Dolphins 17.’

‘“He’s worked hard to get back to where he is and contribute,” coach Sean McDermott said. “It’s a good story and we’re happy for him, albeit seeing a guy go down in Dawson is not what we want. But next man up. Tommy’s a very resilient young man and I think that his teammates have seen that over the course of a year.”’

‘“I think he just continues to find ways to explore different types of plays, he’s constantly watching film from college, other NFL games and even sometimes high school games,” Allen said. “He’s got a knack for it, of just finding good play calls and switching things up where teams maybe lose focus on one guy and then bring them in or focus too much on the other guy. He’s very open-minded for different plays from everybody on the team, doesn’t matter what position you play, he’s willing to take a look at it.”’

‘“Generally, I think things are progressing in a positive way,” Goodell said of the multi-layered negotiations that are taking place between the Bills, New York State, and Erie County. “I think the parties are all working well together. I think there’s a recognition in the need for a new stadium in Buffalo for the Bills. And I think everyone’s working with that objective in mind.”’

‘The Bills have not blocked particularly well in the run game and that has been an ongoing problem because this simply isn’t a mauling, physical front. They do things with finesse, and that doesn’t usually work against a stout front seven. Among the starters, PFF has Brown graded as the best run blocker and Dawkins by far as the worst.’

‘So, it was the right decision to go for it. But here’s where I disagree with offensive coordinator Brian Daboll, and by extension McDermott who, as head coach, would sign off on a critical play call like this: It was the wrong play call for the situation.’

‘For the season, both guards, Williams and Jon Feliciano, as well as Brown have poor pass blocking grades per Pro Football Focus and Ford was off the charts bad which is why he’s no longer playing. In run blocking, PFF has LT Dion Dawkins as the weak link, and that certainly showed up on the final play against Tennessee.’

‘Bad loss. A really bad loss to a Tennessee team that was terrible banged up on defense.’

‘Like I always say with the running game, though, it’s usually not the fault of the backs. The running game is all about winning at the line of scrimmage and the Bills did not do that. It looked like rookie RT Spencer Brown had a rough night, I know LG Jon Feliciano did, and I’ll have to see what else went wrong when I re-watch the game. I’m going to guess that not a lot will look good as the Titans’ talented front won the night.’

‘Sal’s prediction: Buffalo Bills 31, Tennessee Titans 21.’

‘According to Pro Football Focus, in the first five games last year Johnson allowed 27 pass completions on 34 attempts into his coverage responsibility, a 79.4 completion percentage, and those plays totaled 306 yards.’

‘I suspect he cut the cord on Twitter because he’s realizing that almost every time he tweets something – typically to preach on his anti-vaccine platform – he gets lambasted, so what’s the point?’

‘“We have been talking for a couple weeks, my agent and (GM Brandon) Beane, and we just finally came around to the numbers that I saw fit, and I wanted to be here, I love this place, so that was really it,” Johnson said. “I saw the numbers and I said, ‘Let’s do it. Let’s go for it.’ With that it’s just I want to be here, and I kind of wanted it and it’s a load off my back.”’

‘Once again, through five weeks, Henry leads the NFL with 640 yards and he has soared past 100 yards in each of the last four weeks to give him 24 such games in the 83 he has played since coming to the Titans as a second-round pick out of Alabama in 2016.’

‘McDermott isn’t off base, though. Rousseau played his best game yet in Kansas City. He was in on five tackles including two excellent plays where he moved down the line toward the sideline while engaged with a blocker and was able to shed and take down the ballcarrier; he had a zero-yard sack of Patrick Mahomes; and then he made one of the plays of the night, his interception of Mahomes at the Buffalo 8 to take certain Chiefs points off the board late in the third quarter.’